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New research suggests that women who smoke are no more likely to develop lung cancer than male smokers, despite previous studies suggesting that the risk of the disease differs between men and women.

The latest study, which is published in the Lancet Oncology medical journal, looked at data on nearly half a million men and women in the US, all of whom were aged between 50 and 71.

Analysis revealed that the proportion of people who developed lung cancer was 1.47 per cent in men and 1.21 per cent in women.

Female smokers had almost the same risk of developing lung cancer as male smokers.

However, women who had never smoked were found to be 1.3 times more likely than men who had never smoked to develop the disease.

The researchers, from the US National Cancer Institute, concluded: 'Our findings suggest that women are not more susceptible than men to the carcinogenic effects of cigarette smoking in the lung,' the study's authors conclude.

They added that 'vigorous efforts' should be made to eliminate smoking in both men and women, as smokers of more than two packs per day were around 50 times more likely to develop lung cancer than people who had never smoked.